This Happened By Accident

This Happened By Accident

I actually created the name and image for “Nervosa” over ten years ago. Why? Well, I had created a couple of tracks that didn’t fit the usual mold of the Temulent stock-in-trade. They were different looks at drum and bass for me – less of a temper tantrum and more cerebral. Knowing full well that I wouldn’t find a label that would release them, I started crafting the idea of doing it myself. Now remember, this is 2005 we’re talking about, so even a small basement label had to pony up $2000 for pressing vinyl, find a distributor that would take on a stateside label with one release and then magically find another 2 grand and two more tracks to keep the momentum going. Predictably, I shelved it.

Now it’s 2016. I’ve returned to Drum and Bass after almost a decade away. And while most of my new stuff was Temulent-business-as-usual, I still found myself writing stuff that was left of center. Nervosa would not have proliferated in the vinyl-only culture days of yore, but as a digital imprint? Yes, absolutely.

That’s all Nervosa was supposed to be, a sleeper cell outfit for my own unreleased material. But then I flipped my laptop open a few weeks later and saw that sales were rolling in and we were getting all sorts of interest from DJ’s, the press and other producers who liked the idea of a generic-looking label that just released whenever they felt like it.

For as much as I want to smile and say, “yeah, I totally meant to do that”, it’s not true.

My friend and occasional co-producer HammerZz and I got to talking – and we started talking about other artists we could release. Originally I just wanted a couple free tracks to put out, and the next thing I knew, Curtis was enlisted full time as a partner in this whole thing. At the time of this writing, it’s only been a month but it’s taken on a life of its own. Why fight that?

So here’s the Nervosa manifesto, in a nutshell. Farm to table mentality – no promo periods, b-sides, release schedules or fancy artwork. We get a track we like and we put it out. The proceeds are small, so we just give them to the artist.

We’re exclusive to Bandcamp for new releases, as they’re an honest company that treats independent artists fairly. Yes, we will be uploading compilations and making them available through the rest of the outlets, but if you want the newest stuff, it’s on Bandcamp first. One buck and the track is yours.

Now we have a growing stable of artists and music that is truly surprising and encouraging. To see the outpouring of support we’ve received from producers and DJ’s, including some very big names in our very small genre joining the cause. We want Nervosa to be as far from a “label” as possible. We’re a soapbox. A platform. A megaphone for the unheard corners of drum and bass throughout the world.